Need advice on SONY BRAVIA CX-520 from grey market

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

anfjavid

Contributor
Need advice on SONY BRAVIA CX52 from grey market

Hello guys, Finally made up my mind to get this one from the grey market (or from singapore). May i know what is the best price for this one in Burma Bazaar, Chennai ? . I heard that this model has arrived in BB recently and want to know the best price there...
Is anyone aware of the showroom price in Chennai ?

Please give me some precautions/tips for buying a TV from grey market guys. I should not end up buying a faulty/dead pixel/duplicate/used one...

PS: Initially i was a bit confused between the ex and the cx520 and finally I selected this model because i heard that there is not much difference between LED and LCD except the size / power saving feature which i barely require

Thanx in advance...
 
CX520 is launched this year by Sony and is the replacement for the 2010 model - EX400. Image processor onboard has changed from the previous BE3 to X-Reality engine (high-end models sport the better variant - XR-Pro engine), supports DLNA via the ethernet and USB ports, has integrated wifi 802.11n (not sure about the Indian model since we are yet to see the CX520 listed on Sony's Indian website!), supports the Bravia internet video and web browsing capabilities, supports Skype etc. being the core features of this panel.

Web browsers have limited support though. For eg. they do not support Flash.

To check the panel at the grey market dealer's location, check for the seal intactness, power on the display and cehck for the uniformity of the colors with no backlight bleeding, check for dead/stuck pixels by viewing images in green/white/black/red and blue. That's pretty much it.

Not sure about the pricing here but in Sgp, the model's retail price is about 750$. So maybe about 27~29k max here w/o b&w?
 
i dont think it has inbuilt wifi . Both sing and indian website mentions it as wifi ready only... So adding a wifi dongle is a must. moreover dont know which brand it supports and in turn that should be supported by my wifi router
 
Yeah seems like the lower end models are only WiFi ready and do not have integrated into them.

PS: Please avoid the PM route and ask whatever queries you have here so it is useful for others as well. :)
 
Today i visited burma bazaar and i noticed the cx52 is in a small carton when compared to the older models. The dealer also opened the box and showed me. It was nice. Most of them quote 26.5k. Some quote 27 or 27.5k too. From the info in the box packing, there isnt the USB recording feature and even the sticker which is affixed over the edges of the TV says USB PLAY. It is wifi ready, so adding a wifi usb dongle is a must. So i am pretty sure USB recording feature isnt available atleast for the asian models...

But i noticed another thing which was very suprising. The TV's carton had the GST REFUND CLAIMED singapore customs seal on it. How is this possible guys ?. These are grey market units for which warranty isnt applicable even in singapore, right ?. IN such a case how can they get GST refund ?? Or they trying to make customers believe that these are genuine ones ?..

Very confused guys
 
^ 27k for 40" tv? :O

wow. whats the drawbacks to getting a grey market tv, besides no warranty and bill? i'm assuming the tv wont spoil for 3 years or so. but if they do, then?
 
6pack said:
^ 27k for 40" tv? :O
wow. whats the drawbacks to getting a grey market tv, besides no warranty and bill? i'm assuming the tv wont spoil for 3 years or so. but if they do, then?
Click to expand...
I believe he meant the 32" CX520 not the EX series and definitely not the 40".

The drawback is you don't get the 1 year sony warranty.
 
The TV's carton had the GST REFUND CLAIMED singapore customs seal on it.
Click to expand...

What's there to be confused about.

These guys buy retail in Sgp and then claim the GST refund that all travellers/non residents are eligible to for qualifying products when leaving back
 
6pack said:
i thought like @adder said below it was the KDL-40CX520 model - KDL-40CX520 : CX520 Series : BRAVIAâ„¢ LCD TV : Sony Singapore
so how many lcd tv's die in a year of operation? less than 10% i guess.
Click to expand...
The lcds failing in first year are very low ,primary reasons if they do fail are due to poor power or manufacturing defects.
Its best to get a good stabilizer like a V-guard crystal model for lcds upto 65",that way you avoid the power related failures.

I have know people who have lcds that is 6+ years and 4 years both bought from grey working flawlessly but from day one had a good stabilizer or servo based power conditioner .
 
adder said:
The lcds failing in first year are very low ,primary reasons if they do fail are due to poor power or manufacturing defects.
Its best to get a good stabilizer like a V-guard crystal model for lcds upto 65",that way you avoid the power related failures.

I have know people who have lcds that is 6+ years and 4 years both bought from grey working flawlessly but from day one had a good stabilizer or servo based power conditioner .
Click to expand...

But is it absolutely necessary for a LCD TV to have a stabilizer?
The Samsung guy who came to install my set explicitly told me not to use a stabilizer. :S
I was very much surprised at that and moreover he wasn't able to give a proper reason for it.:no:
The power at my place is pretty much stable only so I am still not using a stabilizer.
 
superczar said:
What's there to be confused about.
These guys buy retail in Sgp and then claim the GST refund that all travellers/non residents are eligible to for qualifying products when leaving back
Click to expand...
But these are grey market products. They are not sold through retail channel. So how can GST be claimed ?. So you mean i can claim warranty in India if Sony announces international warranty ?

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
adder said:
I believe he meant the 32" CX520 not the EX series and definitely not the 40".

The drawback is you don't get the 1 year sony warranty.
Click to expand...
Yes its cx520 only. Sorry.....

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Now will the ex600 be better than the cx520 ?. Because the thickness of the TV isnt that appealing to me.

EX600 - edge LED but old BE3 engine, thin
CX520 - CCFL but new XR engine, thick
 
anfjavid said:
But these are grey market products. They are not sold through retail channel. So how can GST be claimed ?. So you mean i can claim warranty in India if Sony announces international warranty ?

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---


Yes its cx520 only. Sorry.....

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Now will the ex600 be better than the cx520 ?. Because the thickness of the TV isnt that appealing to me.

EX600 - edge LED but old BE3 engine, thin
CX520 - CCFL but new XR engine, thick
Click to expand...
They are great market products in india,the grey dealers still buy it officialy from a retail shop in Singapore/thailand/malyasia.

The edgeLED doesn't offer anything in performance, other then reduced power consumption and thickness.
I believe the EX600 costs around 32k or more and has less features.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
kestrel5915 said:
But is it absolutely necessary for a LCD TV to have a stabilizer?
The Samsung guy who came to install my set explicitly told me not to use a stabilizer. :S
I was very much surprised at that and moreover he wasn't able to give a proper reason for it.:no:
The power at my place is pretty much stable only so I am still not using a stabilizer.
Click to expand...
Yes a stabilizer is highly recommended.In the night you will see high voltages.During winter you again may see high voltage due to low load on the power grid.
 
@adder...
Oic...

So what about the edges getting darkened after sometime in lcd ? In led it takes a very long time, rigt ?. So except this, power saving and thickness there is no diff. Between an led and lcd ?

so, ultimately the cx520 wins over the ex600 anyday, right ?. Ok will go with the cx520 then....
 
I'm guessing difference between the ccfl lcd and led lcd is the ccfl lifespan due to heavy usage. once the tubes become old after 3-4 years they start giving out red light which looks horrible while watching movies. led's would just die i guess. no dimming or such. also ccfl tubes are quite expensive to replace.
 
anfjavid said:
@adder...
Oic...

So what about the edges getting darkened after sometime in lcd ? In led it takes a very long time, rigt ?. So except this, power saving and thickness there is no diff. Between an led and lcd ?

so, ultimately the cx520 wins over the ex600 anyday, right ?. Ok will go with the cx520 then....
Click to expand...
Lcds CCFL do start to get darker at the edges,there is no data out there.But from what i have seen you should be good for atleast 3 years ,if it does get dark it will be hard to see for the average user unless you specifically start to search for ,its visible mostly in a dark image and white images and since lcds based on VA tech are increasing having better blacks it will be that much harder to spot it during a black image.
6pack said:
I'm guessing difference between the ccfl lcd and led lcd is the ccfl lifespan due to heavy usage. once the tubes become old after 3-4 years they start giving out red light which looks horrible while watching movies. led's would just die i guess. no dimming or such. also ccfl tubes are quite expensive to replace.
Click to expand...
Leds can also dim,if its overdriven and if its heat sinking isn't good you will see it turning blue and die.But is unlikely to be overdriven in a consumer product.Most led-lit lcd tvs owners would keep their backlight settings to low levels.
 
My dad bought a 32" SONY LCD during DEC '08. No heavy usage. The LCD PQ is same as the first day the TV is bought... So i am not going to worry...

And guys, what do the codes SP1 , MY1, MY2, MY6 mean in the carton ?. Does it refer to the origin or quality of the TV ?. The grey TV dealers say sp1 means singapore and the mys are malaysia. Should i be bothered about these when getting from the grey market ??
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom